As March wound down, news surfaced of Amazon buying Goodreads. The announcement shocked me. Fearing the unknown, I mourned for what assuredly would be lost. Not so fast. Is Amazon’s acquisition of Goodreads really a bad development? Here are four points of view: Amazon’s Perspective: From a business standpoint, this is a great move by […]
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When Games Supersede Work
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD Last September in my column, “Let’s Play,” I discussed gamification and questioned if it was mostly hype or offered merit. I wondered then – and still do – if gamification has any application in the contact center. Those who talk about gamification mostly do so from a theoretical perspective, lacking […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, Ph.D. “I need to find a good manager.” This statement is simple, and its occurrence is common. I’ve heard it many times over the years, including when I worked in call centers, when I consulted for call centers, and now that I write about call centers. Despite the straightforward nature of […]
Last weekend I was at a writers retreat. What were we retreating from? I think in one way or another we all chose to be there to enjoy a reprieve from the status quo. We were retreating from normalcy. For most writers most of the time, writing is a solitary activity. We toil in isolation, […]
This week I pulled out something I wrote and published a decade ago. I wanted to repurpose it into a shorter, updated piece. My old work shocked me. It was ponderous. I used big words that no one ever wields. I constructed long sentences – the kind where you forget the beginning by the time […]
Are You There Blog? It’s Me, Writer By Kristen Lamb (reviewed by Peter DeHaan) Are You There Blog? It’s Me, Writer is the result of Kristen Lamb’s journey down the blogging path, from a struggling novice to successful blogger – with the following to prove it. And she specifically focuses on writers. Kristen avows that […]
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Is It Business or Personal?
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD I’d been using the same business forms printer for seventeen years—or what was essentially the same one. Our time together bridged many changes. For me, it transcended two places of employment, with different office locations; on their part, it spanned three ownerships, a time of expansion and contraction, three name […]
We Are Not Alone: The Writer’s Guide to Social Media By Kristen Lamb (reviewed by Peter DeHaan) We Are Not Alone: The Writer’s Guide to Social Media, Kristen Lamb shares from her own experience how writers can master social media, using it to build their platform. While much has been written about social media, this […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD Call me an idealist. I think life should be fair. This applies to answering calls. According to my perspective, call distribution needs to be fair, too. Everyone should have an equal chance of being answered quickly – or at least subjected to the same length of hold time if they […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD Craving dessert is a habit my wife, “The Queen of Desserts,” cultivated in me. She claims, however, my affection for sweets was ingrained in me before we met. When eating at home, I pace myself through the meal in expectation of a tasty treat at the end. At restaurants, oversize […]